Our Board of Directors

Empyrean’s Board of Directors consists of seven directors: Kal Fishman, who serves as the Chairman of the Board, Jack Ziffer MD, PhD, Thomas Buchholz MD, Sue Wallace, PhD, L. Peter Smith, Kerwin Brandt, and David Romagnoli.

Kal Fishman – Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Fishman is the inventor of the Morpheus™ technology, which was taken from concept to FDA-submission and clearance in approximately eighteen months. Mr. Fishman is a serial entrepreneur in the field of radiation oncology and radiology. Prior to founding Empyrean, Mr. Fishman was the co-founder and served as the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operations Officer of Sensus Healthcare, Inc., a publicly traded company (Nasdaq®: SRTS), specializing in superficial, brachytherapy, and intraoperative oncological radiation therapy systems from 2010 to 2020. He held executive positions at other medical device companies, including GE Healthcare, Siemens Medical Systems, CTI, Elscint, Positron Medical Systems, and Rcadia Medical Imaging. He is a GE-certified Six Sigma DFSS/DMAIC Black Belt. Prior to that, Mr. Fishman served as a senior research and development engineer in the Israeli Air Force R&D Core, at the Airborne Intelligence and Cryptography Division. Mr. Fishman holds over ten patents in the fields of radiation oncology, radiology, and bioinformatics. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Jack Ziffer, M.D., PhD.

Jack Ziffer, M.D., PhD. is a director of the Company. Dr. Ziffer serves as the Executive Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer, and Chief Physician Executive for Baptist Health South Florida, with responsibility for all strategic, operational and policy matters for Baptist Health’s physician initiatives and enterprises. In addition to Baptist Health Medical Group and Baptist Health Quality Network, Dr. Ziffer’s areas of oversight include population health, medical informatics and advanced analytics, the system’s pharmacy program, home health, as well as the Center for Research and Grants. A luminary physician leader, he was the founding leader of Baptist Health Medical Group (BHMG) as its first CEO. Prior to becoming a physician-executive at Baptist Health, Dr. Ziffer served as president and CEO of RASF, a multispecialty group and one of the largest in South Florida and among the largest in the nation for radiology. Prior to that, he was director of cardiovascular nuclear medicine at Emory University, where he first completed his residency in diagnostic radiology and then a combined fellowship in nuclear medicine and cardiovascular MRI. Dr. Ziffer is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, and a master of Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Radiology, including special competence in nuclear radiology, and the American Board of Nuclear Medicine. He has authored more than 100 articles, chapters and abstracts and given hundreds of lectures in the U.S. and abroad. He has served as a reviewer of numerous journals and on the editorial board of the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. He is a clinical professor of radiology at Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

Sue Wallace, PhD.

Sue Wallace, PhD. is a director of the Company. Dr. Sue Wallace is the Chief Executive Officer of Voximetry Incorporated, an early phase Healthtech company. Educated in nuclear and radiopharmaceutical chemistry, Dr. Wallace has extensive experience in medical device R&D, commercialization, and global general management. Dr. Wallace is a valuable advisor to improve operational efficiency and drive commercial growth. She has proven success learning new technologies and adapting strategies within Fortune 500 companies, startups, early-stage ventures, or late life-cycle rescues. She has held executive leadership positions with GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Cardinal Health, Abiomed, and Accuray. Dr. Wallace is a GE trained Six Sigma Master Black Belt. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin, and a Master of Science in Nuclear Chemistry & Doctorate in Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis. She is best known as a highly intelligent, insightful visionary. She has been a frequent speaker on innovation and creating productive eco-systems. She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay area.

Thomas Buchholz, M.D.

Thomas Buchholz, M.D. is a director of the Company. A renowned physician, researcher, and scholar, Dr. Buchholz serves as the Medical Director of the Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center. In this role, Dr. Buchholz leads a comprehensive multidisciplinary and clinically integrated cancer research and care program. Prior to Scripps, Dr. Buchholz spent twenty years with the University of Texas MD Anderson program, holding a variety of academic and executive leadership positions. During his tenure he was division head and department chair of radiation oncology and served as Executive Vice President and Physician-in-Chief. Before his time at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Buchholz served as a major and radiation oncologist in the United States Air Force, where he created the first brachytherapy and stereotactic radiation program for the Department of Defense. He later went on to work in several teaching positions at the University of Washington and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Buchholz’s academic research includes a focus on clinical and translational research in breast cancer and radiation oncology. Additionally, he maintains a strong interest in the education and mentoring of junior faculty and trainees in clinical care and research. Dr. Buchholz earned his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He later went on to complete his clinical residency in radiation oncology and research fellowship in radiobiology research at the University of Washington Medical Center. He is board certified by the American Board of Radiology and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

L. Peter Smith

L. Peter Smith is a director of the Company. Mr. Smith started his healthcare career at Baxter International, a diversified medical products and services company, from 1978-1990. While at Baxter, Mr. Smith served as Chief Operating Officer of Baxter’s Japanese Subsidiary located in Tokyo. Subsequently, he was the President of Baxter’s Caremark Division. In 1991, Mr. Smith founded and led CorSolutions, Inc., which became a leading national disease management company. CorSolutions was sold in 2005 to Matria Healthcare for an IRR of 25%. Mr. Smith also founded and led Medmark, Inc., a leading specialty pharmaceutical distribution company which was also sold in 2006 to Walgreens for an IRR of 45%. In the case of both CorSolutions and Medmark, Mr. Smith was responsible for developing the business plans and management teams and securing funding. During his career, Mr. Smith has served as a director of several public and private healthcare companies. He currently serves as a director for Matrix Medical Corporation, Smartpill Corporation, and E-O2 Concepts, Inc. Mr. Smith received his BA from Princeton University and his MBA from the University of Chicago.

Kerwin Brandt

Kerwin Brandt is a director of the Company. Mr. Brandt has over twenty-six years in healthcare financing and transactions, together with over twenty years of executive and operational leadership experience with various healthcare start-ups and business ventures. Mr. Brandt Served as the CEO of Accelitech for eleven years, which was the venture that helped launching and ramping up Accuray Oncology’s CyberKnife® robotic radiosurgery platform to market in its early and growth stages, prior to founding and serving as SkinCure Oncology’s CEO. Under his leadership, SkinCure Oncology pioneered and expanded the adoption and growth of high frequency ultrasound-guided superficial radiation therapy (IGSRT) for treating skin cancer and other skin auto-immune diseases in the cutaneous oncology market segment. Prior to that, Mr. Brandt served as the CFO of a venture-funded health services company. Mr. Brandt has an extensive M&A experience and track record and he had raised over $200 million in financing (debt and equity) in the healthcare space.

David Romagnoli

David Romagnoli is a director of the company. Mr. Romagnoli joined Seacoast Capital in 2013 and is a Partner in the Boston office. Previously, Mr. Romagnoli worked at Easterly Capital, a private equity firm in Beverly, MA where he focused on new investments. Prior to Easterly, he worked at Needham & Co in Boston as an Equity Research Associate. Mr. Romagnoli received a BS in Economics from Bates College and an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, graduating with honors.